Monthly Pain
by EsmeAmelia
Summary: Han learns that Leia gets extremely painful stomach cramps during her period.


AN: I don't own Star Wars, everyone knows that. I also get incredibly painful stomach cramps every time I get my period and well . . . that's where this fic came from.

"Monthly Pain"

By EsmeAmelia

Han and Leia had only been living together a few weeks, so he knew they were still capable of surprising each other, but it still came as a shock when his fiancée came home from work shortly after lunch, clutching her stomach.

"Leia?" Han exclaimed. "Leia, are you okay."

"I'm fine, I'm fine," she grumbled, "just let me get out of these clothes." She resisted his attempt to kiss her cheek, instead rushing towards the refresher and leaving a stunned Han staring after her.

When she didn't come out after a few minutes, Han made his way back to the living room and slumped down on the couch, vaguely watching the Coruscant traffic, wondering exactly what could have made Leia act so strangely.

Was she pregnant?

Han suddenly gulped. They weren't ready to have a baby yet, were they? After all, they were still trying to restore normalcy to the galaxy . . . no, no, calm down, at least wait until Leia actually said she was pregnant to start panicking . . .

Finally Leia emerged from the refresher, still clutching her stomach, wearing only a t-shirt and shorts, her feet bare, her hair down. She slumped down on the sofa next to Han, leaning back and closing her eyes.

"Leia?" Han asked as gently as he could, nudging her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Leia mumbled without opening her eyes.

"Seems like a pretty big _nothing_ for you to come home early like that."

"Still nothing that concerns _you."_

"Yeah?" Han exclaimed in a harsher voice than he'd meant. "Well it sure as hell concerns me if you're pregnant!"

Leia's eyes shot open, glaring at him. "No, I'm _not_ pregnant. Believe me, I got a pretty _big_ confirmation that I'm not pregnant today!"

Han's first thought was that she had used a pregnancy test and it came back negative, but then it hit him. "Oh," he muttered in realization. "Oooohhhhhh." His eyes shifted a little as if he was afraid to look at her. "So . . . uh . . . pad or tampon?"

Leia raised her eyebrows at him before finally admitting, "Both."

"Ah . . . okay . . ." Han swallowed. "So . . . anything else I should know about?"

Leia flinched, inhaling through her teeth. "Well, on the first day I usually get horrible stomach cramps."

"Stomach cramps?" Han pursed his lips. "Wait a minute, you're tellin' me you were gettin' painful stomach cramps every month for the whole war and you managed to hide it?"

"Yes," Leia said in a humorless voice.

"Why?" Han couldn't keep himself from raising his voice. "Why'd you act like nothing was wrong when you were in pain?"

"Because the Rebellion needed me," Leia said as if the answer was obvious before flinching again. "There were more important things than my cramps."

"Yeah, but still, you could've told someone. Luke and I would've understood at least."

"Oh? I didn't think men liked to hear women talking about . . . this."

Han glanced at Leia's stomach, wondering if rubbing it would help or make the pain worse. "So . . . I guess that time on the way to Bespin when the toilet paper seemed to disappear faster than normal was . . ."

"Yes," Leia answered before he would have to finish. "You didn't exactly have any feminine care products on the Falcon, so I had to get by with whatever I could find . . ."

"Well, I'd better stock some on the Falcon. Both types, right?"

Leia just flinched again.

Han rubbed his lips together as he glanced out the window. He knew women got periods, but previously it had always been an abstract – not something he ever actually had to deal with. How did Leia handle this kind of pain every month? And how did she pretend nothing was bothering her during the war?

"So . . ." Han said awkwardly, "I guess this means no sex for five days?"

" _Definitely_ no sex for five days," Leia said before cringing again. "Unless you want a _big_ mess all over your male parts." She managed a pained grin before yet another flinch. "I'm sorry, I think I should go lie down."

"Well, do you mind if I lie down with you?"

Leia's eyebrow went up. "Are you saying you _want_ to be with a woman on her period?"

"Hey, we're getting married, aren't we? That means we accept stuff, even stuff that might be gross." Han gently stroked his future wife's cheek. "So, may I?"

Leia's face slowly relaxed. "All right." She smiled at her fiancé for a moment before the pain scrunched up her face again. "Come on, flyboy."

A few minutes later, the two were snuggled up in the bed, the sheets draped over them in the sunlight. The _white_ sheets. For a moment Han wondered if they would be stained with red soon, but then he chastised himself for thinking that. Leia was wearing protection – apparently _two_ kinds of protection – and besides, what was a sheet stain compared to her pain?

Leia was facing him, still cringing every few seconds. He reached over and gently pushed a strand of hair out of her sweat-gleaming face, causing her to give a tiny smile.

"You know," she said in a soft voice, "I don't usually have anyone with me when this happens."

"Guess you ain't used to bein' comforted, are you?"

"Not really." Leia sighed, sinking her head into the pillow. "It actually feels nice to not have to pretend for once."

Han smiled back at her as he stroked her hair a few more times, hoping she'd fall asleep shortly and be able to forget about the pain for a while. Soon she was blinking drowsily, though she still flinched between blinks.

"Need a painkiller or something?" Han asked after a while. "Or a sleep aid?"

"They don't work," Leia muttered. "Believe me, I've tried them over and over."

"Damn Leia, how do you _do_ it? If I got stomach cramps like that every month I'd sure as hell be stayin' in bed all day."

"I don't really know, actually." Leia pulled the covers up over her and Han. "I guess I could do it because I was always putting my duty above my own needs."

Han could believe that. In fact, there had been times during the war when he wondered if she ever ate or slept. "Well, your only duty right now is to relax and feel better."

Leia snickered a little as her eyes started to close. "I think . . ." Her voice was getting heavy with drowsiness. ". . . I think I can accept that duty . . ."

They lay in silence for a while longer and Han was beginning to feel himself drifting off as well. At first he tried to fight it, but then he noticed that his fiancée was breathing slowly and evenly and no longer cringing in pain. All right, hopefully she'd feel better when she woke up.

A yawn escaped his lips as he let his eyes droop closed. Would they be doing this every month now? He hoped she'd find a way around the suffering, but if the pain persisted, at least he'd be there to take care of her.

He promised himself that.

THE END


End file.
